Depression: It’s Not Your Serotonin Millions believe depression is caused by ‘serotonin deficiency,’ but where is the science in support of this theory?“Depression is a serious medical condition that may be due to a chemical imbalance, and Zoloft works to correct this imbalance.”Herein lies the serotonin myth.As one of only two countries in the world that permits direct to consumer advertising, you have undoubtedly been subjected to promotion of the “cause of depression.” A cause that is not your fault, but rather; a matter of too few little bubbles passing between the hubs in your brain! Don’t add that to your list of worries, though, because there is a convenient solution awaiting you at your doctor’s office…What if I told you that, in 6 decades of research, the serotonin or norepinephrine, or dopamine theory of depression and anxiety has not achieved scientific credibility?You’d want some supporting arguments for this shocking claim.So, here you go:The Science of Psychiatry is MythRather than some embarrassingly reductionist, one-deficiency-one-illness-one-pill model of mental illness, contemporary exploration of human behavior has demonstrated that we may know less than we ever thought we did. And that what we do know about root causes of mental illness seems to have more to do with the concept of evolutionary mismatch than with genes and chemical deficiencies.In fact, a meta-analysis of over 14,000 patients and Dr. Insel, head of the NIMH, had this to say:“Despite high expectations, neither genomics nor imaging has yet impacted the diagnosis or treatment of the 45 million Americans with serious or moderate mental illness each year.”To understand what imbalance is, we must know what balance looks like, and neuroscience, to date, has not characterized the optimal brain state, nor how to even assess for it.A New England Journal of Medicine review on Major Depression, stated: